Page 37 - Phonebox July 2013

‘What’s it to be this week, Mrs Dunbar?’ Linda the librarian asked. ‘A shooting? A
strangling? Or a poisoning?’
‘No thank you, dear. Not today.’
Linda was surprised. Every week for the past umpteen years the small, elderly, unassuming, Mrs Dunbar would rush in at midday to collect the two or three new crime books Linda had put aside for her. Always a little anxious and ustered, she never had time to browse and choose for herself, explaining that ‘Mr Dunbar’s outside – he doesn’t like to be kept waiting – he must have his lunch on the table at One’.
In any case, it was pointless her browsing as she had read every crime novel the small branch library had more than once. ‘I love crime,’ she would say ‘the gorier the better.’
‘Can I help you with anything else?’
‘No thank you, dear. I think I’ll just browse.’ Linda was astonished. ‘Mr Dunbar not waiting today, then?’
‘Not today, dear. Mr Dunbar passed away on Monday.’ Her tone was surprisingly calm, her manner unusually relaxed. There was a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips. ‘Have you got anything light, amusing, a romance maybe?’
Linda, somewhat ummoxed, directed her towards the general ction shelves. ‘I’m so sorry about Mr Dunbar. How did he die?’ ‘Well, it was straight after lunch. He just collapsed. The doctors don’t know yet – until the post mortem. Perhaps it was something he ate.’
Turning over a new leaf
Robert Barker
Library Assistant, Olney Library,
Olney Centre, High Street, Olney, MK46 4EF. Tel: 01234 711474
Email: Olney.Library@milton-keynes.gov.uk Olney library opening
Monday Closed
Tuesday 10am – 6pm
Wednesday Closed
Thursday 10am – 5.30pm
Friday 1pm – 5.30pm
Saturday 10am – 1pm
Sunday Closed
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Phonebox Magazine 37
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